Hailing from Shillong, India, Plague Throat is a three-piece Death Metal band composed of two former live members of Insane Prophecy. This group came together back in 2006, but only issued their debut recording, an EP titled An Exordium to Contagion, through Incanned Productions earlier this year. With plenty of time to write some truly brutal songs, does this recording show a band that took advantage of those many years, or are these four songs just lacklustre offerings?

Thanks to a rich production with mid-range buzzing distortions and a strong focus on the bass, An Exordium to Contagion packs a punch aimed right for the throat. “The Pretentious and The Deceived” show off the crisp drumming, especially the click of the bass kick. The music shifts between faster, more technical material and a commanding slower pace, complimented with powerful gutturals and raspy backing vocals, though both pushed a little further in the mix than they should have been. Meanwhile there’s “Present Chaos,” a stark contrast thanks to largely slower riffs that throw a gritty groove, intensified by the random spurts of faster blast beats and additional two-stepping about two minutes in.

While “Present Chaos” is a solid cut, it’s sad that the last twenty seconds is easily some of the best material on the EP next to the commanding powerhouse that is “Sinking Higher.” The blunt edge of this performance comes from the louder bass presence that can nearly drown out the snares of the drum kit, as well as the raspy vocals. The guitars are a little more technical, weaving a grim and destructive atmosphere that the slightly raw production quality doesn’t do any favors for. The song is well executed, and is probably more enjoyable live, but the performance sounds held back, especially during the breakdown at the end.

For a simple four song EP, Plague Throat do a good job, even if it does feel a little restrained. This issue does seem more like a cosmetic issue than anything when compared the slower segments to the faster passages. An Exordium of Contagion is a nice mixture of slow brutality and faster aggression, and what groove exists is handled with authority. Hopefully these four tracks are not all that the band has come up with, or have deemed good enough to be recorded, as a debut full-length with a slightly better audio quality is certain to have fans of Death Metal taking note. Even though it isn’t anything too new or exciting, An Exordium of Contagion is some solid brutality worth checking out.